BEEN DONE BEFORE

  

The American dream is increasingly becoming the American nightmare. That it is not 'too' bad now does not mean it cannot and will not indeed be so, quicker than we ever thought possible.

What gives me hope is the same hope that buoys the family in the case of our Yitzy.

That I can write this. That I have the presence of mind, the energy and time to write of such even as we are dealing with the treatment and planned for, prayed for, healing of Yitzy, well, it means that we do have time remaining, at least a bit, to turn the situation around. And we do have hope of a good outcome for my little boy.

Thanks to you and the doctors.

Thanks to the amazing attention and love and diligence of Yitzy's mom, and the deep, constant love from his dad.

Countless are the times we have heard or used those three words - been done before - to enable, excuse, or condone something, anything, that is important to us. Worse, it has been used to enable poor judgement to recur simply because it has "been done before". We allow poor judgement to win the race, because it has "been done before". Simply put, it is an enabling principle of life which allows stupidity, misjudgment, and yes, even evil, to not only exist, but also to thrive, to allow greed to conquer social needs, and replace goodness with pure nastiness.

While the above is absolutely correct, we also must realize that every coin, every phrase, has an opposite side. Thus, it has "been done before" allows emergency use of medication. It has allowed situations to be explained via exigent circumstances rather than jump to punish. Hence, careful perusal must be part and parcel of plans, thoughts, justifications and actions lest they return to bite us in the rear and cancel any positive results with unplanned for negativity.

At times the positive and negative, the good and the not so good must be weighed. The chemo infusion given to Yitzy is toxic. No doubt about that. It has ugly consequences and side effects. However, balanced carefully, with minute measurements of extremely deliberated calibration and consequence, that toxic mix must be used. If we are to kill off a worse toxicity, a more pressing danger, well, it has "been done before" and will be done again. 

However, when simply bad rules are proposed and then passed, when we allow the most moronic pontifications and expulsions of hot air to influence us, to co-opt our supposed leaders, themselves severely lacking in the brain department, we then shift into another dimension. Yes, these dangerous actions have indeed taken place before, though that does not excuse the peril our brainless leaders are forcing us to wade into, the sharks impatiently waiting just offshore. 

We use the excuse that well, it is not so bad. But oh yes, it is. In fact, it actually surpasses that mild statement and jumps eagerly into total immersion into the pool of "in fact, it is actually very bad". Energies must then be expended, reallocated, as energies are quickly sapped. White hats weigh heavily upon those brave enough, honest enough, strong enough to don those hats and their incumbent duties. Such white hats and the heads upon which they ride are few and far between, particularly during these morally challenging times.  No, it is not so bad; it is worse than that.

In fact, it is worse than that as well. Never before have we been in such peril, the odds of losing our democracy higher than ever before. Never before have so many, high and low, succumbed to the false siren calls of extremism. All that has made this nation 'America' is increasingly discarded along the wayside, drowned in the muck of the ditches. 

Perhaps there will be toxicity in this war of ideas and values. Perhaps there will be some damage. Perhaps. 

But as with Yitzy, if we all fight together, if we all pray together, if we all see our connections rather than divisions, there is hope in all areas.

We are grateful for the prayers said in synagogues.

We are thankful for the Psalms groups that have added Yitzy to their lists, for the power and love added to this battle.

And we are grateful to our Christian, Catholic, Protestant and Moslem friends who have incorporated Yitzy into their prayers for his healing. 

We are thankful for those who send their love and positive thoughts and energies our way.  If so many can get together for the sake of one little Jewish boy, how much more can we do to help all of us, an entire world which desperately needs help - if only we do it together.

Thank you all. The battle has an awfully long way to go, but the first steps have been taken.

May there be a refuah shelaymah - a complete healing - bimhayrah beyameinu - quickly, in our times.

Amen. Amen.